


Who Is He (And What Is He To You)

by SerpentineJ



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: Angst, Coulskye, Episode: s01e05 Girl in the Flower Dress, F/M, Fluff, Fun, Hurt/Comfort, Jealousy, Skoulson - Freeform, Skyeson, Songfic, because screw Reina, coulson/skye - Freeform, it's not one of those songfics where the song is most of the fic, kind of, listen to it while you read, pls, there's actually plot, whatever it's called
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-11-24
Updated: 2014-11-24
Packaged: 2018-02-26 22:15:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,782
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2668322
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SerpentineJ/pseuds/SerpentineJ
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Set during S01E05 (The Girl In The Flower Dress), around the time the gang finds out about Miles. Songfic for the Bill Withers song (Who Is He), starring jealous!Coulson and Skye with a crush.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Who Is He (And What Is He To You)

**Author's Note:**

> NOTE: Yes, the song is the one that was featured in S02E07 (The Writing On The Wall). I thought it was really neat (and am now a fan of Bill Withers as well as God Help The Girl (S02E03)). Whoever picks the music for this show is great.

_A man we passed just tried to stare me down_

They’re walking down the street returning from fetching coffee for the team (the instant on the Bus is awful and Coulson knows a really nice little place in Austin), Skye chattering enthusiastically about a new gadget Fitz had put together, when Coulson sees him.

A man slightly taller than him, tousled brown hair, a sharp, scruffy jawline, a blue button up rolled up to the elbows and a pair of jeans slung low on his hips. The intermittent passerby restrict his view to the occasional glances, so he can’t see his face, but the mystery man is scowling directly at Coulson as if he wants to light him on fire.

“And it can sustain backscatter and infrared night vision for hours, recording capabilities…” She trails off, looking at Phil. “What?” Skye says, and follows his line of vision.

_And when I looked at you  
You looked at the ground _

Coulson breaks eye contact with the man and looks at her. She’s suddenly flushed and silent, staring resolutely at the ground.

He frowns.

_I don't know who he is  
But I think that you do _

“Who was that?” He asks, perturbed.

She glances up at him, then back at the coffee in her hands. “No-one.”

_Dagoneit  
Who is he, and what is he to you? _

He knows it’s a fib, but he doesn’t push.

_Ahh_  
Something in my heart and in your eye  
Tells me he's not someone just passing by 

“How long have you two been in contact?” He asks, face rigid and smooth. There’s something roiling in his stomach, a feeling he can’t place.

She sighs, embarrassed, looking at her clasped hands. “I contacted him once the day I joined to tell him I was okay, and once… earlier today.”

Phil has the strangest urge to snarkily say, “How sweet”. Instead, he keeps his expression carefully controlled and continues, “When you tipped off an active suspect?”

Skye looks genuinely contrite, guiltily twisting her fingers and biting her lip, and he has to resist the urge to smooth his hands, the tips of his fingers, his thumbs over them. “It’s not… like that.” He fights the sardonic “It’s not _like that_? It sure looks _like that_.” he can feel rising like bile in his throat. She continues, “That’s why I warned him, not because we’re working together on this but because we’re… friends.”

 _A helluva lot more than friends_ , he thinks.

“I’m _really_ sorry.”

Phil goes through the motions of a preliminary interrogation, lips drawn tight and eyes set in stone, and says, “That information cost a man his freedom and you sabotaged our attempts to remedy that.”

“No, I came here to find out what Miles knows about Chan!” 

“And?” _And you had sex._ He wants to snarl, to growl and spit, anything to alleviate the furiously intense rage clawing at the lining of his stomach. The… man-child sitting in the next room, spouting bullshit about “freedom of information” and “democratization of knowledge” was allowed to touch, to taste, to have the things from Skye Phil could never think to have, to smile at her and make her feel _good_ and _happy_.

Coulson opens the door to the bedroom ( _the bedroom where they-_ ) and takes a breath, exhaling sharply through his nose, surprised by the burst of… it seems like anger, warm and sour, like bile, before directing May to “take him in”. 

_Ahh_  
And when you cleared your throat  
Was that your cue? 

They’re in interrogation together and Coulson can see Skye growling at Lydon, angry and fiery and alive. He can’t help but feel a stab of satisfaction to have driven them apart so thoroughly, and the thought should make him feel bad but doesn’t.

_Dagoneit  
Who is he, and what is he to you? _

He needs several drinks. And an aspirin.

_Ahh now_  
When I add the sum of you and me  
I get confused when I keep coming up with 3 

Phil sips his beer, leaning back in his desk chair, mulling over the events of the day. 

The logical part of his brain is attempting to have this… infatuation squashed as soon as possible; there is absolutely no way Skye would ever want him (despite his jibes, he is well aware of his age), and Lydon has shown her tastes run in… other directions.

Brown-haired, tall, scruffily handsome directions.

She probably has a thing for Ward.

Coulson valiantly ignores the growling of the beast in his gut at the thought.

His heart, though… his heart is an entirely different matter. He still wants her, as ill-advised as it is, and his attempts to distance himself from her haven’t ended well. Skye always manages to draw him back in.

_You're too much for one man  
But not enough for two_

He scoffs. Wanting her is an understatement.

She’s dynamic, witty, ever growing, constantly surprising. He wants to see her, feel her, touch and taste her, take her apart and let her do the same to him. Sometimes he feels like worshipping her; she is beautiful, brilliant, and he needs to help her see her own brightness, and sometimes he wants to punish her, expose her flaws and show her that even though she’s flawed he loves her and never wants her to change or to be lost to him.

His feelings are conflicting and needy and tearing him apart; Phil doesn’t know how much longer he can keep this up, this barely-flirty banter and friendly chatter without taking her for his own or sending her away.

He recognizes that the former is unlikely.

And he knows he can’t deal with the latter.

_Dagoneit  
Who is he and what is he to you?_

Coulson know it’s dangerous; this… addiction, for lack of a better word, addiction to her smiles and jokes and fearless attitude that compels him to give her chance after chance when others say she’s a lost cause, too set in her ways to reform.

They don’t see she doesn’t need reforming.

_Well  
You tell me men don't have much intuition_

Why had she met up with him?

_Is that what you really thinkin’, girl  
Or are you wishing?_

Did she think they wouldn’t find out? 

_Before you wreck your old home  
And search another new_

“I’m really, really sorry, Coulson.”

Coulson nearly jumps (nearly, he’s a trained field operative) and turns, looking at the girl over his shoulder. They’re in the…. Living room, for lack of a better term, and she is shifting anxiously from foot to foot, glancing at him through her lashes.

She has no idea what she does to him.

Skye continues, barely stammering, “I-in case I haven’t said it enough.” 

He sighs and bows his head, slumping on the white leather couch, rubbing the bridge of his nose with one hand. It’s rare to see her like this, no armor, no shell of witty remarks and biting sarcasm, just clean, sharp honesty and a tint of fear. 

Coulson pats the sofa next to him, silently inviting her to sit. She does, guilt twisting her features, emotion nearly tangible in the air, sweet and sour.

_Dagoneit  
Who is he, and what is he to you?_

“Do you regret it?” He asks abruptly after a few minutes of silence, the question dropping bluntly through the air, forcefully cleaving the quiet. “Getting caught in LA.” 

Looking at him, surprised, Skye frowns. “Definitely not.” She says, quickly, assuredly. “I mean,” she clarifies, “the whole kidnapping thing wasn’t an ideal first meeting, but I don’t regret coming on the Bus for a second.”

Phil digests this new information, tasting it, refreshingly crisp and sweet on his tongue, like a fresh, crunchy fall apple. Like the color of her dress, like the color of his Corvette, like the color of that entire conversation, dropping Ace off to his aunt, ‘are you going to show me something new’ and ‘the tide is rising’, his mind whispers traitorously and though he wants nothing more than to be angrily cold, aloof, he can feel his bitter rage melting away, feeble as the first snow of winter in the wake of nostalgia and her wide brown eyes and painful honestly.

“Why did you go to him?”

_Dagoneit  
Who is he, and what is he to you? _

Skye looks at him, head cocked, something contemplating in her eyes, and doesn’t say anything for a minute. When she does respond it’s quiet, hesitant, as though she doesn’t really know what she’s saying.

“I think…” There’s a tremor in her voice, as though she doesn’t want to admit whatever she’s about to say. “I think Miles, to me, is safe. I was still in between, torn between SHIELD and the Rising Tide.”

“And now?” He asks.

There’s a laugh and she’s smiling, which is good, but there’s a sad edge, which is bad. Phil frowns.

“Well…” Skye’s grin turns melancholy, a slightly faraway look in her eyes. “Let’s just say there’s a… deciding factor that I hadn’t realized until yesterday.”

He raises an eyebrow. “Really? What’s that?”

_Dagoneit  
Who is he, and what is he to you?_

You, she wants to say, feeling her heart cracking in her chest. “You.”

Coulson looks shocked.

When had they gotten so close together? Their thighs are touching, shoulders bumping, hands nearly entwined, and it’s everything Skye can do to keep herself from leaning in and kissing him.

Luckily, Phil takes care of that.

Her eyes widen when she feels his lips on hers, slightly dry and chapped but warm, firm, exploratory and guiding. After her moment of surprise she kisses back, yielding under him, one hand snaking around to clutch at his upper arm (and they are very nice arms, she reflects hazily with the small part of her brain that’s not preoccupied with being snogged by Coulson.)

They break apart, her eyes impossibly wide, his disbelieving, like he can’t believe that had just happened.

She’s the first to break the silence, grinning giddily and kissing him on the cheek, nestling into his slightly shocked embrace. Eventually he relaxes around her, resting his cheek on her hair, a small smile lifting the corners of his mouth.

“I don’t do this often, you know.” She murmurs. “Have relationships, I mean.” The question is unspoken, implied, hovering in the air; _Is this a relationship? What do you want it to be?_

He huffs and gathers her closer. “Neither do I.” His response is quiet, but the hidden message, the answer to her unspoken question is clear to the girl in his arms. _Yes and yes._

_Dagoneit  
Who is he, and what is he to you? _

Maybe they can try.

**Author's Note:**

> NOTE: Alright, I think I’m getting a handle on these two. I liked this episode, not only because jealousy is so much fun, but we got to see the rare angry!Phil. He’s so interesting to play with. Also, rewatch it (S01E05: The Girl In The Flower Dress) and tell me Agent Kwan isn’t an underappreciated guest star.


End file.
